KARACHI: The interim bail of former president and co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur was extended on Thursday till March 5, as a banking court asked a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor to inform it about a final decision regarding transfer of a case pertaining to alleged laundering of Rs4.14 billion to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Former chairman of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza, Anver Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed have been booked and deta­ined over their alleged involvement in facilitating around 29 fake bank accounts and laundering Rs4.14bn.

Mr Zardari, Ms Talpur, Zain Malik, the son-in-law of real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, along with 14 other bankers and businessmen, have been booked in the case.

Key suspect in money laundering case not produced in court due to poor health

On Thursday, the matter was fixed before Judge Tariq Mehmood Khosa, when the former president, his sister and around 15 others appeared in the court for confirmation of their interim bail.

Detained suspects Mr Lawai, Mr Raza, Omni Group’s head Anver Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed were brought from prison for the hearing.

At the outset of the proceedings, the judge asked FIA’s special public prosecutor Mohammad Ali Abro about the progress made in investigations of the case so far.

The prosecutor submitted that the Supreme Court had transferred investigations into the case to NAB. However, the judge told the prosecutor to make his submissions in writing.

Senior lawyer Farooq H. Naek, the defence counsel for Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur, contended that the apex court had not directed the federal anti-graft watchdog to file any reference in the case, but had asked it to further probe the matter.

At this, Judge Khosa told the FIA’s investigation officer that either the prosecutor should submit the final charge sheet in the case or file an application for transfer of the case to NAB.

The prosecutor submitted that the matter of transfer of the case was in process, as the record had been transferred to NAB. But he also said the transfer of the case was being discussed with the NAB authorities.

Mr Abro submitted that he had been filing applications on different occasions seeking more time to file final charge sheet in the case.

However, Mr Naek argued that merely filing applications was not enough, as he had to cite a plausible reason to seek more time to submit the final charge sheet.

After hearing arguments from the prosecutor and the defence counsel, the judge adjourned hearing till March 5, asking the FIA’s investigation officer to inform the court of the purported transfer of the case to NAB during the next hearing. Till then, the court extended interim bail of Mr Zardari, Ms Talpur and 15 others.

The judge also adjourned till Feb 20 hearing on the applications filed by Omni Group’s head Anver Majeed and his son A.G. Majeed for post-arrest bail.

Key suspect absent

The FIA prosecutor informed the court about the arrest of an alleged key suspect in the money laundering case, Mohammad Aslam, in Saudi Arabia recently, but said he could not be produced before the court due to poor health.

The prosecutor said FIA had obta­in­ed his five-day transitory remand from a Rawalpindi court, but doctors had advised him not to travel to Kar­achi due to his poor health. He produced a medical report and assured the court that the suspect would be produced as soon as his health improved.

The court also asked the prosecutor to expedite the process of proclamation and attachment of the properties of five absconding suspects — including UAE national Nasser Abdulla Huss­ain Lootah — till the next hearing.

FIA detained Mr Lawai and Mr Raza in July for allegedly facilitating opening of 29 ‘fake’ bank accounts in three private banks. A case was later registered against all the suspects.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019